MICRONANOFABS is a distributed ICTS (Unique Science and Technology Infraestructure) dedicated to Micro and Nano Fabrication and Photonics. It serves as a large-scale experimentation infraestructure for engineering and the development of new technologies with applications in various fields, offering advanced technologies that provide essential and horizontal support across all disciplines of science and technology.

MICRONANOFABS mission is to support Spanish and Euopean reserach groups and industries in micro and nano fabrication for both miniaturized electronic devices, integrated photonic devices and systemns, enabling the integration of novel materials and devices (quantum, AI…).

MICRONANOFABS vision is to conform and sustain a comprehensive clean room network that integrates the compplete technological value chain of micro and nano electronics and photonics fabrication, strengthening the collaboration between research and industry, leveraging shared scientific knowledge and technological processes and offering training in the above-mentioned technologies.

Due to its horizontal nature, the benefits of the MICRONANOFABS Network’s offerings extend beyond the ICT or materials sectors, encompassing all industrial sectors and social challenges where miniaturized materials, electronic, and photonic components can play a crucial role. These include ares such as Health, Transportation, Energy, Enviroment, Food, Security, and more.

Micronanofabs has more than 2.000 m² of Clean Room space (class 10-100-1.000), available to the scientific community and industry, along with associated laboratories for the packaging and characterization of systems and devices. In recent years, thanks to European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the equipment has been upgraded to process wafers with diameters of 150mm and 200 mm (6” and 8” respectively) to achieve new challenges.

The  MICRONANOFABS facilities are distributed across the following nodes:

Each MICRONANOFABS node has unique features and complementary research lines in the fields of micro and nanotechnology, optoelectronics, photonics, and the characterization of devices and materials. To achieve this, the nodes coordinate to provide a comprehensive technological offering, operating in a distributed manner. The contracting of distributed services provides global access to the facilities, whether through a combined offering of technologies and equipment from two or three nodes, or through a single node.

MICRONANOFABS is part of the European nanofabrication network Euronanolab, which includes more than 40 cutting-edge academic nanofabrication centers across Europe. Its main objective is to accelerate research in the micro and nanotechnology sector by transforming a fragmented landscape of nanofabrication facilities into an integrated knowledge base that supports scientific excellence and provides researchers with a fast track to achieving results.

The Nanophotonics Technology Center of Valencia (NTC) is a University Research Institute at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), with a strong focus on technology transfer to industry and the development of nanotechnology and nanoscience. It has a multidisciplinary nature: on one hand, it offers its expertise in the fabrication of photonic materials and devices (e.g., silicon photonic integrated circuits, silicon nitride circuits, and other types of substrates). On the other hand, it provides micro/nanofabrication services to industries from other economic sectors where nanotechnologies enable a wide range of applications.

Currently, the facilities of Micronanofabs consist of more than 230 equipments divided into four categories:

The number of equipment has increased due to technological advances and developments in the microelectronics sector. With these improvements in facilities and equipment, the goal is to enhance the capabilities of Micronanofabs to contribute to the development of the micro and nanofabrication and photonics sectors.

HIGHLIGHTED EQUIPMENT OF MICRONANOFABS

When requesting a service, access is granted to the facilities provided by each of the three nodes collectively (access to combined technology or facilities from two or more nodes) or to a single unit (access to the technology and/or facilities of one node). These services can be requested by researchers from the public or private sector, both nationally and internationally.

To submit a request, the following steps must be followed:

The wafers that can be processed at the facilities vary in diameter depending on their intended purpose and the area in which they are used. With this in mind, the following sizes are worked with: 100 mm (4″) , 150 mm (6″) , 200 mm (8″) . Additionally, chip samples can also be processed directly.

The available services are grouped into the work areas available at Micronanofabs. The full list is as follows:

The devices created at MICRONANOFABS are made possible thanks to the research carried out at the three nodes that make it up and the internal collaboration. Behind each device is technical and research personnel grouped into research lines to improve their capabilities and ensure proper functionality.

Thanks to these investigations, it is possible to offer innovative devices both to companies and research projects.

Thanks to these investigations, it is possible to offer innovative devices both to companies and research projects. The research lines, which group all the manufactured devices, are as follows: